Lake Placid, New York, May 28, 2001 - By the end of the third and final stage of the Cloudsplitter Bicycle Classic, Geneviève Jeanson, Amy Jarvis, Gabriela de Ferrat and Manon Jutras, all from Team RONA, had stepped neatly into the top four spots of the Adirondacks race. Team RONA participated in this regional race by way of training for the World Cup Challenge that will take place in Montreal next week. The fifth Team RONA cyclist, Raphaële Lemieux, finished seventh.

Geneviève Jeanson stole todayâ€šs stage - a criterium through the streets of Saranac Lake near Lake Placid - handily. Only New Zealander Melissa Holt, of the Pittsburgh Cycling Team, stood between Team RONA and the top five spots in todayâ€šs stage.

When she arrived at the stage inspection station this morning, Amy Jarvis was surprised to discover that Sundayâ€šs victory was attributed to her, and not to Geneviève Jeanson. Apparently, in their friendly attempts to push the other to cross the line first, Jeanson managed to come in a tireâ€šs width behind her teammate.

This morning, despite cold and rainy weather, the women were ready to sew up todayâ€šs stage - 16 laps of a 1.9-km circuit of astonishing difficulty, including a little wall with a slope approaching 15% in some places.

Halfway up this wall on the first lap, Jeanson tore herself away from the pack to cross the summit with a thirty-meter lead. By the end of the first lap, she was already 17â€° ahead of the pack. While she worked on widening the gap in the second lap, four other cyclists broke away, three from Team RONA (Jutras, de Ferrat, Lemieux) and New Zealander Melissa Holt. After three laps, Jeansonâ€šs lead over her teammates was up to 45â€°. On the fourth lap, it was Amy Jarvisâ€š turn to break away.

During this time, Jeanson was revving up the turbo power, so at ease, despite the rain that had begun to fall, that she sometimes climbed the wall using her 53-tooth plate, to make her training efforts more valuable. On the sixth lap, less than 12 km into the race, she lapped the pack, just before facing the wall again.

While Jutras was pulling ahead of her fellow breakaways to ride solo for seven laps, Jeanson was inexorably increasing her lead. She finished a whole lap ahead of all the other competitors and two laps ahead of the pack. Melissa Holt took second place, nosing out de Ferrat and Jutras in the sprint. Jarvis and Lemieux finished the stage in fifth and sixth place respectively.

"The rain was so cold,â€° declared Jeanson after the race, â€žthat a couple of times I had trouble changing gear!â€°

At the end of the three days of racing, Team RONA appeared very satisfied with the â€žtrainingâ€° results. "The course was hard and demanding, and as far as training goes, we couldnâ€št really have asked for more," added Manon Jutras.

Racing one of the oldest races in the United States, the Saturn Team saluted history by bringing home a victory to the 10-year-old Saturn Team, one of the oldest professional teams in the country. Between intermittent trips to the BBQ, 20,000 spectators lined their lawns to cheer as 200 cyclists roared by. Partygoers and Memorial Day Celebrations are all part of the fun of Somerville.

Albeit a small team of only Eric Wohlberg and Tim Johnson, the Saturn Men's Team still managed to make the determining break with 20 laps to go in the 100-kilometer, four corner criterium. Much to the fans excitement, a group of nine escaped the large field, and gained 55 seconds on the main field. Along with Wohlberg and Johnson in the break were Mark Walters (Navigators) and Kirk Willet (Prime Alliance) as well as Snow Valley's Jonathon Wirsing. Wohlberg did an outstanding job of providing the horsepower to keep the threatening field sprinters from contacting the break.

With four laps to go, Walters made an impressive move, escaping the break and opening up a 15 seconds gap. Realizing it had to be quick, Wohlberg and Wirsing made the move to reach Walters. The two chasers caught Walters in the backstretch on the final lap, with enough time for Wohlberg to give a final kick in the finishing sprint. Wohlberg came flying by Wirsing for the win, with Walters in third.

In the women's race, Saturn representatives, Kristy Scrymgeour, Kim Davidge, and Ashley Kimmet all made a go at escaping the main field. However, the sprinters in the field, Autotrader's Tina Mayolo and Laura Van Gilder, would not make the same mistake they made yesterday when Scrymgeour soloed in for the win. In the final sprint it was 19-year-old Christine Underwood (Fuji) with the upset over Mayolo. Van Gilder claimed third. The Saturn Women finished in the main group.

Directions to Wind-Del Community Park from Toronto (Courtesy of Ronde van Wind-Del)

Take QEW and 403 through Hamilton to the top of Hamilton Mountain at Ancaster. Leave Hwy 403 and join Hwy #2 toward Brantford. At Brant Road #18, turn left Follow Brant Road #18 for 8kms to Brant County Road #4 and turn left. Keep on #4 for about 11 kms. and cross Brant County Road #24 at Oakland. Continue to Scotland to the junction of Hwy. #24 after 3kms. Turn left onto Hwy #24 and immediately right at the fork onto Brant County Road #4. Continue for 6.5kms through Vanessa and then another 5kms. to Haldimand Norfolk Road #25. Turn left and proceed for 5kms to Windham Centre. At the T junction, turn right onto RR #9. Take the first left back onto #25, cross the railway tracks and Wind-Del Community Park is on the left hand side.